If your beach activities so far this summer have been limited to baking yourself on the beach or swimming 50 feet off the coast surrounded by middle school kids at their birthday party, maybe it's time to consider other alternatives.

A water sport that is gaining major popularity in Northern Colorado, especially among the college age group, is wakeboarding.

For the dedicated "winter people," wakeboarding translates to snowboarding behind a boat. However, more Coloradoans than ever are now considering wakeboarding their primary extreme sport.

Brian Niswender, 30, has been wakeboarding for seven years and acts as the resident expert at Gart Sports, 425 S. College Ave. Niswender says he's seen a dramatic increase in interest on wakeboards over the past few years.

"It's just like snowboarding – once you do it you're hooked," says Niswender. "I have lots of people coming in asking for specific models now, where it used to be people would see one hanging up and ask, 'What's that?'".

Chad Eusea, 29, bought his boat two years ago to satisfy his addiction to fishing but decided to start using it to wakeboard this summer.

"I had done everything you can do on a board except wakeboarding," says Eusea on his decision to spend $600 on equipment this year to try it out. "It was natural. When I saw it I had to learn."

Eusea, a father of two, admits that his boat has done its share of pulling tubes this summer, but that you won't find him in anything inflatable. For a long-time extreme sports fan, if you can't progress and learn new tricks on it, then it's not worth riding.

"Progression," says Eusea on his favorite part about his new summer hobby. "I love seeing somebody or myself do something they couldn't do before."

Eusea found the technique of wakeboarding easy to pick up, somewhat due to his experience in skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding. Although he only started in the beginning of June, Eusea can already ride switch (ride with your unnatural foot forward), carve effortlessly and manage to stick a few jumps off the wake.

Even without background knowledge, many say that wakeboarding is an easy water sport to pick up and enjoy immediately.

"I think it's a lot more fun than skiing," says Niswender. "It's a lot easier to get up and learn tricks right away."

One of the main obstacles beginners may face in their quest to get out on the lake is overcoming the money required for the necessary equipment. Wakeboarding can be an expensive hobby – and that's before the cost of a six or seven thousand-dollar boat to pull you. Minus the cost of the boat however, wakeboarding can actually be less expensive than one might think.

"For your basic board package it's gonna be $150," says Niswender. "That includes your bindings. That's gonna be enough to just get you out on the lake so you can learn the hang of it."

"It's definitely been worth the cost," says Dolifka, who guesses he's spent around $700 on wakeboarding. "It's fun to go out there with your friends and spend the day on the lake."

"My goal is to get better and do something I've never done before every time I go out," says Dolifka.

If you are looking to get involved, Northern Colorado offers a variety of lakes available for water sports. Many of them are private and require a membership that can cost thousands of dollars so having connections to private property can cut down expenses

If no such connection exists then the most easily accessible public lakes in Northern Colorado include the 1,700 acre Boyd State Park in Loveland, and the 1,900 acre Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins.

I am writing regarding your new layout. As a CSU journalism graduate and former Collegian staffer, I'm sorry to say that I was extremely disappointed last week when I realized that the ugly paper on the rack was my dear Collegian. I had hopes that this dry format would be gone this week, but that didn't happen.

This new layout is dull, drab and completely monotonous. The inside pages are particularly difficult to read, due to the similarities among fonts, type sizes and headlines. Rather than the award-winning paper that the Collegian is, it now looks like a high-school publication operating on a shoe-string budget. Quite frankly, the layout makes me not even want to read the articles, which is certainly not the goal of any newspaper (if you recall from JT310, the goal of any layout is to draw readers in, not ensure they quickly turn the page).

While I commend the Collegian staff for taking initiative to continually reinvent and improve the paper, I ask that if you must make "improvements," do so in the areas of content and writing, not design. I know you have quality technology and talented designers … please do better.

I recently looked at the student financial services website to look at what the tuition increase had done. To my dismay I found that out of state Students, like myself, pay more then three times as instate students. We also pay the same as graduate students. The out of state tuition for most colleges is double of instate. Additionally I realized that the tuition increase does not even effect instate students because of the college opportunity fund. They are being refunded for the tuition increase where as out of state students have to suffer even more.

At preview last year when a bunch of us freshman were sitting in the Lorry theater a speaker asked people to raise there hands based on where they were from. In the end it turned out that about 90% of students were from the state of colorado. So it seems to me that the school is driving away out of state students when they should be welcoming them, our school does preach diversity after all. This is blatant discrimination and it needs to be addressed, for the schools sake.

The new tuition increase did not seem to shock or surprise many students on campus when it was announced last week. It appears that students have accepted the idea of rising tuition, even though the last time tuition rose in the double-digit percentile for in-state undergraduates the year was 1985 and Marty McFly was going back to the future.

It's appalling that tuition increases have become acceptable at CSU. And while the new revenue generated from the increases give certain employees long-awaited raises and hire new professors and police officers, once again students are being charged a lot more, while their standard of education remains stagnant.

Raising tuition every year will prevent some students from considering higher education an option at all. Others, willing to make the sacrifices of extra jobs and grueling hours, will take longer to graduate and could burn out before they can finish.

While the university, President Larry Penley and the Board of Governors cannot be blamed entirely; they all are partly to blame. Sharing that blame with them is the Colorado State Legislature. Over the past couple of years state funding for higher education has declined. As of right now no immediate solutions have materialized despite the fact that politicians from both parties said it was their goal to lower the cost of higher education.

Until this state can adequately deal with the budget, funding for higher education will continue to drop. If funding continues to drop, it is going to hit CSU students where it hurts the worst, their bank accounts.

Back in our more primitive days, man's quest was to acquire the basic necessities of food, shelter and water for survival. After a millennium of progress, fulfilling basic needs is an afterthought for most, instead more pressing needs can be found in a set of prerequisites.

The most obvious example is the thousands of students strolling around campus. All are moving toward separate buildings leading to separate paths of success that is the first step in achieving today's needs.

Is it merely a degree though that will earn a living and lead to a life of success? Or is it the grades behind the degree that measure our victory in the end? After conversing with dozens of CSU students, a few entrepreneurs, lawyers and business people, I have gathered a lot of feedback on what really matters.

Kyle Prawel, a senior business major, thinks it's the type of school or profession you're going into that's important.

"Regarding law school, grades are incredibly important," said Prawel, "but for the rest of the working world it doesn't seem to be. Employers care more about your ability to pick up on things and training you the way they want to. It's about how well you'll adapt and be able to learn in a corporate setting instead of a school."

Dave Fein reflects Kyle's view on the importance of the profession. As a lawyer, he believes hard work and good grades are equal to success. After six years of working in gas stations, he felt like a failure, and resolved to follow a path of effort and improvement.

For him, grades mirrored his hard work and achievement. For many though, the "who you know, not what you know" clich� rings true, with an emphasis on experience and a dominating attitude.

Bonner Gilmore graduated from college with a civil engineering degree and became a site manager for Pulte Homes – one of the largest home builders in the state.

"I had a 3.2 GPA and grades didn't affect my job at all," said Gilmore. "If you're going into a competitive market, they'll come into play. But what's important is if you have experience that the other guy doesn't. That is what will get you hired."

Andy Orr, founder and owner of Circulation Services, didn't even finish college. He took a job offer at a newspaper company in Chicago and formed his own business. He believes grades may help – but they're not a strong indicator of success.

Rachel Martinez, a fashion merchandising major, brings up the fact that some of the most successful people like Bill Gates, a dropout, or Bush and Kerry, C students, are now in high positions.

"The C student will go a lot farther in life than an A student," said Martinez, "because C students may have more difficult life challenges, like working and other experiences that override reading and writing papers."

Martinez says that the most important reason she attends CSU is the yearn for the piece of paper that will double her salary when she gets out. It has not been the experience and enlightenment that college originally offered.

This is the prevalent American belief – that the desire for a degree and not the desire to learn is ruling our society. With this progressing mentality, how will we stand against other nations? Can even 10 percent of the population name our political leaders, our past wars or point out where Bolivia is? Are we merely going through the motions of higher education, void of passion, simply because it's expected?

Will the detriment of students' indifferent attitude and reality-TV addiction be apparent in a few decades in comparison to China's fast-paced advancement? Is our ethnocentrism so intoxicating that our powerful nation is subtly sliding? With every other nation adapting to our language and imperialism as we adapt to none, should we consider them to be expanding beyond us? No doubt, most schools provide high-quality learning, but without the passion for knowledge, students also are included in the quandary.

It is mid-August, intoxicated 18-year-olds rampage the streets of downtown Fort Collins, looting shops, overturning vehicles and assaulting police officers. Hundreds are arrested and many more injured. Media from around the state and nation converge on the city, eagerly reporting the mayhem that ensues. When the students of CSU return to classes the following morning, the headline of the Collegian states: "Excited Students Return to Classes." No mention of the arrests, destruction or violence is found within the paper.

This Orwellian vision just came a step closer to reality last week with a ruling from the Seventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals. In a split 7-4 decision, the court ruled that a college newspaper's first amendment rights had not been violated when the dean of the school disagreed with the student-run paper's content and halted its production. The case was started when a group of student employees took up issue with the dean's right to manipulate their content and decided to sue.

The case reversed a lower court's decision that held for a separation between the rights of high school and college newspapers. It had been ruled previously that while high school papers were run as part of class programs, the college papers were in fact extracurricular activities to which the administration of the school had no right to review prior to printing.

Unfortunately, the members of the Seventh Circuit went against the prior ruling and set a dangerous precedent for the future. The court has literally given a green light for administrators to determine, edit and censor the content of what students print and read. While many have considered the university system to be one of free thought and ideas, the future may be one of lessons in government control and silencing of critics.

Consider CSU's recent past and how such silencing of the media would affect its students. Last year's coverage of the fall riots would have gone unreported in fear of casting the school in a negative light. The off-campus deaths would have never been written or spoken of out of the fear of a tarnished reputation. A student's death in the Student Recreation Center's pool would have been quietly swept under the carpet without anyone on campus knowing the reports of an alleged cover-up. Tuition hikes would never be brought before a public forum, thus denying those who are paying the administrations salaries any say in its policies. Thoughts of modern day China are conjured up, where no mention or memorial alluding to the Tiananmen Square massacre can be found.

The issue of censorship is a slippery slope, once it has become acceptable in one medium, it can more easily be applied towards another. The government has shown no great love of the media lately and is no doubt envious now of the restrictions awarded school administrators. Hope must remain that the higher courts will see the error of the Seventh Circuit's ways and release college newspapers from the shackles of censorship control.

JP Eichmiller is a senior technical journalism major. He is the summer editor in chief of the Collegian

UncategorizedComments Off on Police arrest suspects in graffiti tagging case

Jun282005

Authors: Sara Crocker

While the snows from winter have melted and washed away some of the city grit and grime, much of the paint from the graffiti spree during December and January still remains.

But now, Fort Collins police have named suspects in the case, and they hope to finally identify 'Sam,' the tagger whose name still can be seen throughout the city.

Fort Collins Police Services Officer Matt Johnson said there are three groups he thinks are involved with the tagging: Suburban Hip Hop Posse, Denver Vandals Squad and local hip hop group, The Few.

Johnson said he thinks the name Sam comes from "Uncle Sam Sense," the stage name of a member of The Few, who Johnson would only identify as Trevor. The other tagger Johnson thinks is a part of The Few uses the name "Cirius."

Johnson said Cirius has not been as destructive as Sam, causing less than $2,000 of damage. Fort Collins resident Andrew Vaeth, 26, has been arrested in connection with the case.

Johnson said they were able to narrow down the suspects after an article about the graffiti ran in the Fort Collins Weekly in February.

"After the article ran people began to come out of the woodwork," Johnson said. "We had some informants come forward."

Because of these sources, Johnson said they were able to obtain a search warrant for Vaeth's residence, and then issued an arrest warrant in May.

Vaeth spoke out in another Weekly article on June 8, claiming that he was not behind the Cirius tags.

"I'm a lyricist first and foremost," Vaeth said. "I'm not even really a graffiti artist."

He said that he felt slandered by the Weekly article and would not disclose his trial date. Also, he said he wasn't interested in explaining his story to anyone who didn't understand the hip hop culture.

"There's a lot of people who have no idea what it's like to be a hip hopper," Vaeth said.

Johnson said the penalty for the Cirius tags could be up to 6 years in prison and compensation to the owners of the properties that were damaged.

But, Vaeth and Cirius are not the main focus of the case.

"Sam was much more prolific," Johnson said of the tags that are related to over 100 reports. "(He) probably had damages over $100,000."

Vaeth's arrest still brings up the question of whether or not graffiti is art or vandalism.

"I think it's an individual person's expression, so yeah, it can be considered art," said Andrea Martens, a graduate art student.

But others disagree. Ken Moore, who owns Nelsen's Auto Tech Center, 361 1/2 E. Mountain Ave., looks at a Cirius tag that faces his garage in the alley across the street.

Moore said his building has been tagged in the past and estimated it happening about once a year.

"I don't think it's art; I think it's intrusion on people's private property," he said. "I hate to see the town get disfigured like that."

Several locations in Larimer County will offer fireworks displays on Monday, which is Independence Day. Event organizers advised getting to the shows early in order to secure parking.

In Fort Collins, the show will begin about 9:30 p.m. at City Park on Mulberry Street. Free shuttles to the show will be available from the Downtown Transit Center at the corner of Mason and Maple streets and from Moby Arena on the campus of Colorado State University. For more information, call (970) 221-6640 or go to www.fcgov.com.

When the skies finally get dark in Loveland, fireworks will be shot off at Lake Loveland. The beach and swimming areas that were popular for viewers in the past will be closed off this year and people are encouraged to park north of the park or at the high school. Call (970) 962-2000 for more information.

Two shows will be available in Greeley. The Greeley Country Club at 47th Avenue and 10th Street will offer displays after 9 p.m. Approximately 10 or 10:30 p.m., there will be another large fireworks show at Island Grove Park, following the final concert at the annual Greeley Independence Stampede. The park is located on north 14th Avenue but the fireworks will be visible from far away.

Golden beer flows from keg to pitcher to cup. People mill about, beer in hand, drinking, eating and laughing. It may seem like a normal Fort Collins weekend, but this wasn't your average kegger.

It was the 16th Annual Colorado Brewers' Festival.

This weekend, about 30,000 people took over Old Town to tap 300 kegs of Colorado beer. Known to the locals as "Brew Fest," this event provides a venue for more than 25 Colorado brewers to showcase more than 42 of their best brews.

Even the high temperatures of 88 degrees Saturday and 84 degrees Sunday did not deter the crowds.

In the middle of Walnut Street, the north border of Old Town square about twenty-five patrons sought relief from the heat in a blue plastic wading pool Saturday afternoon. Those not splashing in the water, lounged in lawn chairs surrounding the pool.

Will Overbagh, owner of the Road 34 bike shop, has set up the pool for the past three years, hauling water in 5-gallon buckets from a spigot down the road.

"We all like to drink and have a good time," said Overbagh "and it's always really hot, so a pool seemed right up our alley."

Samplers, ages 21 and up, paid $10 for a Saturday and Sunday pass or $6 for a Sunday pass, plus $1 tokens for beer.

But beer wasn't the only form of entertainment. Local bands played in the middle of Old Town Square both days. The Second Hand Smokers, The Boondock Saints and George's August Brew rocked Saturday. Sunday's lineup featured Michae Waido, 12 cents for Marvin and Mojo Mama.

Peggy Lyle, an Event Coordinator and Entertainment Director for the Downtown Business Association has been organizing the event for five years.

"I thought everything went great, said Lyle, "There weren't any big changes from last year, but the crowd keeps coming back, so I guess we are doing something right."

Some people came for the music, some came for the food, some came for the atmosphere and some came for the beer that the festival is all about.

"(I came) Because it's called Brew Fest," said Wade Miller, a senior accounting major. "With a name like that, how can you not come?"

Disappointed because he could only make it to the festival on Saturday, Miller said, "I would come again if I didn't have anything to do tomorrow. I'll be in the work force and still take time off to come."

More than 400 volunteers worked in Identification and Tickets, Merchandising, Pepsi's Designated Driver Booth, or as Beer Truck Personnel. Volunteers got complimentary admission to the festival and a special edition T-shirt.

Racism, bigotry and intolerance are not traits normally associated with the city of Boulder. Within the last two years though, incidents involving black members of the school's football team as well as acts of racial violence against blacks are raising questions as to the underlying attitudes of this predominately white community.

While some view the incidents as indicative of an underlying problem, others believe they are simply random acts, which hold no bearing on the population at large.

The Rocky Mountain Collegian decided to hit the streets of Boulder and pose a question to citizens of diverse backgrounds, ethnicity and occupations: "The city of Boulder has both a national and international reputation of being accepting and tolerant to people of varying beliefs and ideals. Recently however, the city has been marred by controversy regarding racism toward African-Americans. Why do you think this is occurring?"

*Joe Williams, black, 8-year Boulder resident, member of business community:

I just think a few people are showing their true colors is all. In the Old South as a black person you truly know where you stand. But then you come to a community like this where everyone is so worried about being politically correct. Some of those underlying feelings just get covered up. They don't want to hurt and they don't want to offend anybody, but they could truly care less about the person they are living next to. It's a touchy situation.

*Brandon Fritz, white, 5-year Boulder resident, CU student:

I would say they are just random acts. They are not indicative of the town. I have not personally been around people who have acted like that.

I have been here ten years and I don't think there has ever been a high level of tolerance here, perhaps on campus, which is not the same as the city of Boulder. It did not just start within the last couple of years. I think Boulder is extremely uptight. The upper class runs this place. They are very accepting, but accepting of who? Everyone here is white.

Greg Mudd, white, 30-year Boulder resident, CD salesman:

I don't know if it just some of the rap that Boulder has gotten in the past or what. Boulder has a pretty large Reggae community. Around here it doesn't matter what someone looks like or talks like. It is not good to discriminate against anybody, it is not right. I think that Boulder just has the same problems as the rest of the country.

*Paul Hester, black, 28-year Boulder resident, horticulturist for the city, father of two CU students

A lot of the citizens of Boulder are very liberal, but there are people who pass through the university, or the transients who pass through here. You are going to find that some of them are racist. Both of my children attend CU and have experienced racism. I find that most of the people who live in Boulder are not racist, it is mostly the ones who have moved here from other places.

During the crisis when the alleged rapes where going on, all of the black students where hearing people walk by them and say; 'There is a rapist.' But those people I think would have been racist anyway, it was just an opportunity for them to show themselves.

We have never dealt with racism here in America, we have just acted like some of our white ancestors were slave-owners and some of the black ancestors were slaves. It is time somebody says we are going to stop it and come together as a country.

I think it is a great town because the people treat me nice and people let you be what you want to be. I have been in a lot of towns but none like this; this is one of a kind.

*Mike Kabjian, white 7-year Boulder resident, Television producer:

I believe there is a facade of tolerance in Boulder. While I believe the acts of racism are isolated. Boulder has been transformed into a mecca of wealth and status, and has lost a lot of its weirdness. A lot of the people who are what the outside world considers 'Boulder,' have been marginalized and pushed out of town. They can no longer afford to live in this utopian world we have created. If you have money Boulder is tolerant. Is Boulder racist, no I don't think so. Those unfortunate things are not what Boulder is about, I don't believe.